Method and metal member for forming clips on horseshoes

Abstract: An elongate L-shaped metal profile of constant cross section for forming into a horseshoe comprising a base (1) with an upstanding lip (8) along a front edge thereof. The base (1) is thicker and wider than the lip (8) with an inner face (4), an outer face (5) and an upper face (6). Either the inner face (4) or the outer face (5) is normal to the base, the other face being inclined relative thereto whereby the width of the lip (8) where it joins the base is narrower than the width of the upper face (6). A method of forming a horseshoe from the profile of the invention is also disclosed.

Description: The present invention relates to a method of forming clips on horseshoes and also to an elongate L-shaped metal member for use therewith. Clips are upward projections extending from the upper surface of the horseshoe adjacent its outer edges which are conventionally fitted in recesses formed by the Farrier in the horn of the horses hoof to prevent backward movement of the shoe in use. The front shoes normally have a single central clip whereas the rear shoes usually have two clips symmetrically disposed on each side of the fore and aft plane of symmetry of the shoe. The preparation of the clips requires the use of a hot forge. The operation involves heating the shoe to red heat and then punching an indentation in the undersurface of the shoe in the appropriate outer edge portion thereof to raise an appropriate volume of metal for the clip at the top surface. This is then beaten out on a anvil to form the clip. The forming of the clips on the shoe therefore represents a significant proportion of the Blacksmiths working time. Attempts have been made in the past to make horseshoes with clips already on them during the manufacture of the shoes. However, these methods have always involved hot working of the shoe by methods simulating the action of the Blacksmith. In particular, shoes have been made by forming the indentation by hot punching on a mechanical power press and subsequently rolling out the displaced metal with the shoe again at red heat using a mechanical power press. The handling of the hot shoes for these comparatively intricate machine operations requires a disproportionate amount of time and skill and the hot rolling produces a thin and flexible lip of metal which tends to adhere to the roller on its return stroke with the result that the clip curves outwardly and forwardly from the shoe which is the wrong orientation and therefore requires subsequent working before the shoe can be fitted to the horse. Contrary to the prevailing belief at the time, the Applicants discovered that clips can be economically produced on a horseshoe by cold working techniques and their UK patent No.2.053.742 describes a method of forming a clip in a ferrous horseshoe in which an indentation is formed in the undersurface of the shoe in an appropriate outer edge portion thereof to raise an appropriate volume of metal for the clip at the top surface of the shoe and subsequently working the raised metal to form the clip, the invention being characterised in that the indentation is formed by cold pressing and it is subsequently worked into the final clip configuration by cold rolling. This method provided a substantial improvement on the previously known methods but the indentation formed in the undersurface of the shoe in the cold pressing step did not disappear when the final clip configuration was formed in the cold rolling step and this was found to be unacceptable for cosmetic reasons to some customers. The Applicants realised that rather than deform a flat horseshoe to provide a sufficient volume of metal protruding therefrom which can subsequently be worked into the final clip configuration, the problem could be overcome by forming the horseshoe from an elongate L-shaped metal member of constant cross section. As a result, the unacceptable and unsightly indentation at the front of the horseshoe beneath the or each clip could be avoided. According to one aspect of the invention therefore there is provided an elongate L-shaped metal member of constant cross section for forming into a horseshoe, said member comprising a base with an upstanding lip along one edge thereof, the base being thicker and wider than the lip and said lip having an inner face, an outer face and an upper face, one of said inner or outer faces providing a first face which is normal to the base and the other of said faces being inclined relative to the first face whereby the width of the lip where it joins the base is narrower than the width of the upper face of the lip. In embodiment, the outer face of the lip is normal to the base and the inner face is inclined relative thereto. However, in the preferred embodiment, the inner face of the lip is normal to the base and the outer face is inclined relative thereto. In the preferred construction, the outer inclined face of the lip meets the front face of the base at a location slightly above the upper face of the base. The inclined face on the lip is important because it provides the necessary additional amount of metal which is needed to be cold rolled to provide the final pointed clip configuration. The bottom surface of the base can be flat, concave or convex. Preferably the elongate metal member is made of a rolled ferrous metal material but it can also be made from an extruded metal alloy material such as aluminium. According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of cold forming a clip on a metal horseshoe comprising the steps of cold cutting material away from an upstanding lip on an elongate L-shaped metal member of constant cross section to leave an amount of metal which provides an initial clip configuration and subsequently cold rolling said initial clip configuration to work it into its final clip configuration ready for fitting to a horses hoof. Preferably the cutting step is carried out using a power driven cropping tool and the rolling step is carried out using a hydraulic press. The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1A is a perspective view of a rolled metal section for use in forming a horseshoe in accordance with the invention; Figure 1B is a perspective view of another configuration of rolled metal section for use in making a horseshoe of the invention; Figure 2A is a front view of the portions of the rolled metal sections shown in either Figure 1A or 1B indicated by the dotted lines therein; Figure 2B is a perspective view of a horseshoe with two clips formed in accordance with the present invention; Figure 3 is a top plan view of a preferred cutting apparatus for use with the method of the invention; Figure 4 is a cross section of the apparatus of Figure 3 taken along the line IV-IV; Figure 5 is a side view of the apparatus shown in Figure 3 in the direction of arrow V; Figure 6 is a scrap view of the apparatus shown in Figure 3 taken in the direction of arrow VI. Figure 7 is a side view of a cold rolling apparatus for use with the method of the invention; and Figure 8 is a plan view of the apparatus of Figure 7. Referring to the drawings, there is shown in Figure 1 an elongate L-shaped metal member of constant cross section which has been hot rolled at a rolling mill. It is however possible to form the metal member from an alloy material such as aluminium using an extrusion process. The elongate metal member comprises a base 1 with an upstanding lip 8 at its front edge. The base 1 has an upper surface 2 and a lower surface 3 and the lip comprises a rear face 4 a top face 6 and a front face 5. In the Figure 1A embodiment, the front face 5 is normal to the bottom face 3 and the rear face 4 of the lip is inclined relative thereto whereby the width of the top surface 6 is narrower than the root of the lip where it joins the base 1. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1B, the rear face 4 of the lip is normal to the upper surface 2 of the base 1 and the front face 5 of the lip is inclined relative thereto. In the illustrated embodiment, the inclined front face 5 of the lip meets a vertical portion 5A of the front face at a location 7 which is slightly above the upper face 2 of the base 1. As can be seen from the drawing, the width of the top surface 6 of the lip is greater than the root of the lip where it joins the base 1. As a first step in forming a horseshoe using the method of the invention, metal 9 is cut away from the lip 8 to leave a configuration as shown in chained dotted line in Figures 1A and 1B and in solid line in Figure 2A which is a front view of the elongate members in Figures 1A and 1B after the metal 9 has been removed therefrom. This cutting operation is achieved using the apparatus of Figures 3-6 which will be described hereafter. Once the scrap metal 9 has been cut away, the straight length of elongate metal member is then heated, fullered and nail holes 12 are formed in it. It is then finally bent into the required horseshoe shape. During the heating, fullering and nail hole forming steps, the tabs 10 are still in their initial clip configuration as shown in Figures 1 and 2. In order to transform the initial clip configurations 10 into their final clip configuration 11, the horseshoe is placed into a cold rolling apparatus of the type described and claimed in our UK Patent No.2053742. Figures 7 and 8, show an apparatus which comprises a rolling head 140 with an inverted U-shaped base 141, the web of which is attached to a connecting piece 142 for attachment to the ram of a hydraulic press. Mounted between the limbs of the U-shaped base 141 are a pair of parallel rollers 143,144 each mounted on a spindle 145 which in turn are mounted in bearings in the limbs of the U-shaped base 141. The roller 143 is an active roller and roller 144 is a reaction roller which prevents lateral displacement of the rolling head 140 during the rolling operation. Figure 7 illustrates the rolling head 140 at the end of its rolling stroke. The apparatus also includes a bed 150 in which a reaction tool 151 is integrated with an active tool or die member 152 through a base 153, brackets 153a,153b and tie bars 154,155. A shoe supporting platform 156 slopes downwardly away from the die member 152. The die member 152 comprises a vertical rolling surface 157, a support surface 158 continuous with the surface 156 and a die surface 159 which interconnects the surfaces 157 and 158 and has a vertical dimension corresponding to height of the clip above the top surface of the horseshoe and which subtends an angle with the vertical corresponding to the taper of the clip. In other words, the surface 159 extends downwardly obliquely towards the rolling head. The surface 156 can however by horizontal. A rest 160 is mounted so as to project upwardly from the surface 156 for supporting the curved inner surface of the horseshoe and consists of a wheel slidingly mounted on a spindle 161 fitted to the platform 156 so as to be replaceable by wheels of different size to suit different dimensions of horseshoe. For this purpose, the rest could alternatively be eccentrically mounted so as to swivel towards the length between the rest and the die surface, suitable clamping bolts being provided. In the rolling operation, a horseshoe which has been formed into the shape shown in Figure 2B is located upside down on the platform 156 over the rest wheel 60 so that the tab portion 10 is located over and against the die surface 159 in which position the inside curved edge of the shoe should rest against the wheel 160. The ram is then engaged to bring the rolling head down during which movement the active roller 143 rolls out the metal of tab 10 to displace it against the die surface 159 and form the tapered clip 11 as illustrated in Figure 2A or 2B, the clip 11 reducing in thickness from its root adjacent the top surface 2 of the shoe where the metal may for example be 1/8th of an inch thick (3.18mm) to substantially a knife edge at its apex. At the same time, the clip 11 has a smooth elipsoidal configuration from the front and rear. The finished clip 11 has a much higher standard of finish and can be obtained by hand forging or hot rolling. Preferably the horseshoe is removed from the rolling bed at the end of the downward rolling stroke and before the return stroke. Not only does this save time but there is no risk of the formed clip 11 being distorted during the return stroke. If a slow acting mechanical press is substituted, provision should be preferably arranged for a delay cycle to intervene when the head is in the bottom most position in order to allow time for removal of the shoe. Although the elongate metal member shown in Figures 1 and 2 has a base which is planar, it will be appreciated that the base can be formed with an indentation therein or alternatively it can be formed with a convex bottom surface or with a outwardly projecting bead thereon. The preferred apparatus for cutting the scrap metal 9 away from the elongate metal member 1 shown in Figures 1A and 1B to leave the initial clip configuration 10 thereon is shown in Figures 3-6 and this will now be described in more detail. The cutting apparatus comprises a base 15 with a plate 16 extending upwardly therefrom and attached to the base by means of bolts 18 (only one is illustrated). The plate 16 supports a pair of pneumatic cylinders 17 each of which has a threaded shaft 19 connected to its operating piston (not shown). The threaded shaft 19 is connected to a workpiece clamping member 25 by means of clamping elements 20 held in position by bolts 21 (only one is illustrated) The clamping member 25 has a pair of elongate slots 23 therein which receive retaining bolts 22. A cutting die 27 is bolted to the base 15 and is provided with laterally extending tabs 27A (see Figure 3) the purpose of which will be described hereafter. The apparatus includes a top assembly 32 having a spigot 35 projecting therefrom which is connected to the power press assembly (not shown). A cutter head mounting block 30 is attached to the top assembly 32 by means of bolts 31 and a cutting tool 28 is attached to the cutter head mounting block 30 by means of bolts 29. The top assembly 32 moves up and down relative to the base 15 on guide posts 40 (see Figures 3 and 5) in bushes 41. The base 15 has an inclined surface 32 in the region beneath the cutter 28 for the removal of scrap metal cut from the elongate member 1 during the cutting operation to be described shortly. Referring now to Figure 3, it can be seen that the right hand end of the base 15 is provided with a pair of rails 45 screwed to the base by bolts 47. An end stop 46 is adjustably mounted on the rails 45. The base also includes a slope 48 for removal of a cut length of elongate member 1. Figures 5 and 6 show a cutter mounting block 51 attached to the top structure 32 by means of bolts 52 and a cutter head 54 is attached to the mounting block 51 by means of bolts 55. Referring now to Figure 4, it will be seen that a work piece support surface 33 is provided on the upper front edge of the die 27 and that the front face of the clamping bar 25 has a rebate formed therein facing the cutter 28 to receive the elongate metal member 1 (not shown). Thus, the elongate metal member 1 can be fed through the cutting apparatus on the support surface 33, the feed direction being indicated by the arrow A in Figure 3. On start up the elongate metal member 1 as shown in Figures 1A or 1B is fed through the apparatus in the direction of arrow A with its lip 8 resting on the support surface 33 and its base 1 projecting upwardly therefrom until its forward end abuts the end stop 46. This end stop will be adjusted so that it is spaced from reference edge 38 (see Figure 3) by a distance equal to the size of horseshoe to be formed. Actuation of the pneumatic cylinders 17 causes the clamping bar 25 to move into engagement with the bottom surface 3 of the base of elongate metal member 1 and holds it against the facing surface of the cutter 29 firmly in position. The power press is then activated to move the cutter 28 downwardly and cut metal 9 away from the lip 8 leaving tabs 10 in the region supported by the die parts 27A. The material cut away then falls down and out of the apparatus along the slope portion 32. Simultaneously with this cutting operation, the end cutter 54 (see Figure 5) also moves downwardly to cut the elongate metal member 1 at the reference point 38. This severed piece of metal then falls downwardly and out of the apparatus along the slope 48. It will be appreciated that during its initial stroke, the length of metal 1 which extends beyond the reference point 38 to the end stop 46 has no tabs 10 formed on it. However, when the press is raised, it triggers a switch which withdraws the pneumatic cylinders 17 to release the clamping member 25 from the elongate metal member 1 which can then be pushed through the apparatus until its free end abuts the end stop 46 again. The portion of the elongate member extending between the reference edge 38 and the end stop 46 now has tabs 10 formed on it from the previous cutting stroke and the cycle is repeated. Thus, when the cutter 54 severs the length of elongate metal member at 38 on the next or subsequent strokes, a length of elongate metal 1 member with tabs 10 formed on it will be produced each time. It is to be understood that prior to cold rolling the clips 11 from the tabs 10 using the apparatus of Figures 7 and 8, the straight length of cut elongate metal member 1 has to be heated, fullered, and have the nail holes 12 formed therein. It is then bent into its horseshoe configuration. As all these steps are well known in the art and do not form part of the present invention, no further description thereof will be given here.

Claims: An elongate L-shaped metal member of constant cross section for forming into a horseshoe, characterised by a base (1) with an upstanding lip (8) along one edge thereof, the base being thicker and wider than the lip and said lip having an inner face (4), an outer face (5) and an upper face (6), one of said inner or outer faces providing a first face which is normal to the base and the other of said faces being inclined relative to the first face whereby the width of the lip (8) where it joins the base (1) is narrower than the width of the upper face (6) of the lip. An elongate metal member as claimed in claim 1 characterised in that the outer face (5) of the lip (8) is normal to the base (1) and the inner face (4) is inclined relative thereto. An elongate metal member as claimed in claim 1 characterised in that the inner face (4) of the lip (8) is normal to the base (1) and the outer face (5) is inclined relative thereto. An elongate metal member as claimed in claim 3 characterised in that the inclined outer face (5) of the lip (8) meets the front face (5a) of the base at a location (7) slightly above the upper face (2) of the base (1). An elongate metal member as claimed in any preceding claim characterised in that the base (1) has a bottom surface (3) which has a recess formed therein. An elongate metal member as claimed in any of claims 1-4 characterised in that the base (1) has a bottom surface (3) which is convexly curved. An elongate metal member as claimed in any preceding claim characterised in that said member is made of a rolled ferrous material. An elongate member as claimed in any preceding claim characterised in that said member is made of an extruded metal material. A method of cold forming a clip on a metal horseshoe comprising the steps of cold cutting material away from an upstanding lip (8) formed on an elongate L-shaped metal member of constant cross section to leave an amount of metal which provides an initial clip or tab configuration (10) and subsequently cold rolling said initial clip or tab to work it into its final clip configuration. A method as claimed in claim 9 characterised in that the cutting step is carried out using a power driven cropping tool.

Inventors: DALE SIMON EDWARD, DALE, SIMON EDWARD
Applicants: DALE SIMON EDWARD, DALE, SIMON EDWARD
Application year: 1994
Main classification: B21K15
IPC codes: B21K15, B21H7